Renesmee's Holiday
by September Freya Thorn
Summary: Things are not going well for Renesmee Cullen. All her life she has known she can rely on Jacob Black when things get bad, but he suddenly seems to be shutting her out. Things aren't going well for Nahuel either. He's in love with Renesmee and she doesn't know. But when Nahuel decides to strike a deal with a Volturi spy, he may have taken things too far.
1. Chapter 1

Nahuel did not remember what he had been dreaming about before the water invaded his sleep.

But it had been happy, he seemed to recall. Something childish about a magical land of sweets. One minute he was there.

The next, he had been swept off of his feet and was on his back. For a moment he could do nothing but mouth at the bright blue sky, wondering what the Hell had happened. He was moving, he registered, being pulled backwards toward something he couldn't see. Nahuel fanned his fingers out in a web and felt water beneath him. It was water that had hit him. And even though he knew he was asleep, Nahuel suddenly felt clear headed and rational, and fully, _fully_ awake.

"_Fuck", _he muttered. This was not good.

Knowing he had no chance of fighting, he let the water carry him on and on, pulling and pushing his body in alternate directions and occasionally twisting him around so that he was facing down, with the water covering his mouth. He always thrashed frantically when that happened. Nahuel didn't _think _that dying in this dream of his would mean dying in real life but he wasn't about to take the chance.

Eventually, after what felt like eternity, he was swept into an ocean. Not _the _ocean, he didn't think, but something that looked a lot like it. Waves broke over his head, trying to push him beneath the water's surface, and the taste of salt spray filled his mouth. If Nahuel had been human, instead of half-vampire, he would have drowned, he was pretty sure. But he was strong. He had fast reflexes. He had been swimming since he was no taller than his own knees. He managed to stay afloat. But it was hard. And as his lungs filled with water, it got harder and harder.

"I know it's you!" he shouted. "Stop it! If you want to talk, come and talk!"

At that point, the dream got even stranger. A cloud floated down towards Nahuel, and sitting on it was a girl. A beautiful, dark skinned girl, her curly black hair falling down her back like a film star's, her eyes big and doelike, her face wise and ethereal. Only, she wasn't wise, Nahuel knew. The wiseness was an illusion. Part of the halfling style beauty his sister had.

"Jennifer. Hi there", he said, trying to sound relaxed, as if he wasn't going out of his mind with panic drowning here in the water.

"Hello, Nahuel." Her lip curled. "It's nice to see you again."

"Why are you in my dream?" Nahuel asked, although he knew the answer.

"Tomorrow is your birthday, isn't it?" Jennifer sniffed and Nahuel reflected on the fact he had used to love that face of hers. He had used to be happy when he saw her. He had used to miss the sight of her face, when he hadn't seen it in a while, and want to go and see her again. But now the sight brought dread and fear and anger to him.

"Well remembered." Nahuel said it contemptuously. "What, you wanted to wish me happy birthday?"

"I did. I wanted to give you your present." His sister smiled. "Here it is. And I want you to know that me and the others will always hate you, Nahuel." She smiled sweetly. Then she vanished. And then another wave broke over Nahuel's head, forcing him beneath water this time. He struggled and kicked trying to rise back to the surface, but it felt as though an invisible weight was pulling him down. Panic set in. He couldn't breathe! He was drowning! He kicked and kicked, increasingly desperate as the air left his lungs. And then...

...and then he was sitting up in bed. For a moment Nahuel didn't recognise the setting. Then he realised he was in a hotel. The clock on his phone said it was 23:09. He had only slept for one hour. In another hour, it would be his birthday. But there was nothing good about that thought.

Sighing, Nahuel got to his feet and pulled on some clothes. Time to go for a walk and clear his head. After that dream, he needed it.

There were certain things that Nahuel had known about himself for a long time now. The first was that he was a monster who didn't deserve the life that had been given him. The second was that, even though he was a monster, he was at least aware of it and felt guilty about it. Unlike his sisters. The third was that Renesmee Cullen was the most wonderful girl who had ever been lived on this earth. And the fourth was that Renesmee would never, ever return his feelings and it was best if she never knew about them at all.

Somewhere in this hotel, the Cullens would be awake. But Nahuel didn't really feel like speaking to them right now. So instead he took the stairs down until he reached the lobby.

The hotel reception was still open. The girl at the desk looked at him curiously. He smiled vaguely at her and wondered about going out. It was at that point a girl walked through the sliding glass doors and up to the counter.

"Hello, I'd like to check in", she said in a bright voice. Just as if everything was normal, and she wasn't checking into a hotel at 11 in the evening instead of the more normal five o clock. But looking at her, Nahuel was pretty sure there was nothing normal about this girl.

For a start, she was wearing sunglasses. That would be strange anywhere, at this time of night but it got even stranger when you took into account they were in a forest resort. There was absolutely no sun here. And then there was the way the girl was completely white, almost bone white. And on anyone else that would have looked strange, and sickly, but on her it looked healthy, and beautiful. The real cinch, though, was that her smell didn't make him hungry at all. Nahuel never ate humans. But that didn't mean the smell of their blood did nothing to him. And this girl's blood didn't even smell like food.

She was a vampire. Checking into the same hotel as him. The same hotel as Renesmee.

Nahuel was horrified.

"Name?" he heard the desk girl ask.

"Via Red."

Even her _name _sounded like it belonged to a vampire.

As he watched her head toward the lifts with her room keys, her red-blonde hair sweeping around her head as she moved, Nahuel wondered why 'Via Red' was even checking into a hotel. It wasn't as if she actually needed to sleep.

He almost followed her. But at the last second, he remembered that vampires, most vampires, were dangerous. Just as capable of eating a hybrid as they were a human. Following that girl would be a very, very bad idea.

And then someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around and almost leapt in the air.

"Renesmee?"

"Happy birthday, Nahuel." Renesmee hugged him and Nahuel tried to keep from flinching. Her touch always felt like a burn on his skin. Being so close and yet so far from her. It hurt. Physically.

She broke away without pressing her forehead to his, so he didn't get to see her thoughts. She was wearing pyjamas, her red hair in two messy braids. She looked beautiful. Like always. Almost without thinking, Nahuel put a hand out to touch one of the braids. He loved the feel of her hair. Renesmee just smiled at him.

"It's not my birthday quite yet. Why are you up?" he asked.

"Why are _you _up?"

"Couldn't sleep."

"Me neither." Renesmee touched his face gently, and again he felt that burning sensation. "Is it difficult?" He had told her before about how upsetting he found the whole experience of his birthday.

"Yeah. Well. It's the anniversary of my birth. But the anniversary of mum's death too." Nahuel sighed.

"Want some company?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"O.k. I don't want to do anything much though. Can we just...go back to my room and watch telly?"

"Of course." Renesmee turned around and headed to the lifts where Via had just been. Nahuel was struck again by how kind she was. How perfect. How he might as well be in love with a pop star or something, she was so much out of his league. It was ridiculous to think Renesmee could ever love a monster like him.

Back in his room, he switched on the telly and a games show came on. He flicked to another channel with a sigh. The News. No good. Too depressing. He flicked until he found a movie, and they settled back to watch it. Renesmee's head rested on Nahuel's shoulder and he allowed himself, for a moment, to close his eyes and dream that she was his.

Sometimes it seemed to Nahuel like his whole existence was made up of dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

Via Red paced the hotel room impatiently, wondering what could be taking so long. She paused in front of the mirror, examining her appearance. There was nothing wrong with the reflection in front of her. As usual, she looked perfect. But to Via's nervous eye there were a million problems with the way she looked right now. Looking for something to correct, she flicked her hair off of her shoulder, then swept it back forward again, deciding it stopped her face from looking over-exposed. She swung her arms up above her head in an expression of frustration, turned and spun around the room, then came back to the mirror.

She looked tired. Not like she needed sleep, obviously, because she didn't sleep, but mentally tired. Like someone who spent too much time being stressed. Her hair was straggly and coarse, like it belonged to a human and not a vampire. She was too pale. More colour would have suited her. She was too tall. She was taller than a lot of men. There was a strange, upturned quality to her lips that made it look like she was perpetually sneering.

To a human eye, Via was beautiful. By the standards of a vampire, she was ugly.

Before she could stop herself, Via's fist had hit the mirror. Her reflection broke apart, for a moment distorted into several moving Via's, before the pieces of glass fell to the carpet and she was left standing over the evidence of her crime, a surging sense of satisfaction in her stomach.

It took her a moment to remember that hadn't been very smart. The hotel wouldn't be pleased about the smashed mirror. She'd just have to check out before they noticed. Via put a hand to her chest, feeling for a heartbeat that wasn't there. If she was a human, she'd be taking deep, deep breaths right now, trying to calm her anger. But she couldn't breathe. The thought almost made her panic, as if she was a human choking for breath. Pathetic. Pathetic. She was about to smash something else. Screw self control.

Via had just spun around to face the bedside table, ready to observe the way it would splinter when her fist connected, when she heard a noise. It was only very slight, like the impact of feet on the floor. For a moment Via froze. Then she spun around in a flash to face the open window and he was there.

"Alec", she breathed – or she would have done if she could breathe. "Happy birthday."

Alec smiled at her. It was the same slow, curious smile he always gave her, and as it always did it made Via's frozen heart feel as if it had been stuck over a campfire and was slowly de-thawing and beginning to beat again. It wasn't. But that was the way it _felt. _

All Via Red wanted in that moment was to close the space between them and squeeze Alec in her arms and never let go. Every time she saw him this urge happened. Without fail. She _always _had to crush the urge. Overpowering and irrational, the urge made Via feel dizzy and winded. And that was pretty impressive since Via hadn't once been dizzy or winded for real in the three years she'd been a vampire.

"Thank you", Alec answered her with amusement in his tone. Via supposed it wasn't surprising he didn't take his birthday seriously. He had had a lot of them.

"I thought you wouldn't manage to get away", she whispered. Though again, it wasn't really a proper whisper. Because when a human whispered they exhaled air as they did it, which Via couldn't do. But she spoke quietly. "When you were late I thought the Volturi must have..thrown you a party or something. Something which meant you couldn't come and see me."

"Via." Alec still looked amused. "The Volturi don't care that it's my birthday. I'm pretty sure Jane is the only one who even remembered. And that's only because we're twins. You and I had already agreed that I would come to the hotel to meet you, and you'd get a room. I wouldn't have stood you up."

When Alec said things like that, Via's dizziness increased.

"Have you mentioned me to Aro yet?" she asked eagerly.

"No. I thought it would probably come up next time he read my mind. But he hasn't done that in a while."

"And when it does come up...do you think he'd want me in the Volturi Guard?"

She couldn't read Alec's face at all. It was the same mix of calm and amusement as ever.

"He is trying to recruit at the moment. Via...why did you think I asked to meet you here?"

Via wasn't sure. She examined him carefully. When he had suggested they meet in a hotel she hadn't been able to shake the thought that that was what rich men did with women they had affairs with. She was sure...reasonably sure...that Alec didn't ask her to come here on his birthday for sex but...

Well, Via could hope.

"Aro actually ordered me to be here."

Oh. Well, that was that dream crushed.

"He had heard the Cullens were going to be staying in one of the rooms. He wanted me to talk with them."

_And you thought you could see me too, on the side! _Via thought bitterly. Because that was all she was to him. Something on the side.

"Its actually quite an important mission. He just wants to find out what they're doing, how the child is, that kind of thing. But he thinks they're more likely to regard it as a casual visit and not be on their guard if it's just me, rather than Aro or Caius. Anyway, if you can help me I'm sure Aro will be easy to convince about you joining the Volturi Guard."

"Are you serious?" The words came out before Via had meant them to. She knew her face must be lit up, bedazzled.

"Yes." The amusement was back. "I'm serious. Will you help?"

Via put out a hand to touch his face. She didn't look at him as she did it. Half of her expected him to pull away. Instead, she felt silky perfect skin beneath her fingers. A quick flick of her eyes told her he wasn't looking at her either. Like her, his eyes were on the ground. What did that mean?

"I'll help", she said.

"Good." Alec was on his feet and by the door in seconds. "Then let's go get breakfast."


	3. Chapter 3

After a while TV got boring. By that time it was the morning and the restaurant downstairs had opened for breakfast, so Nahuel and Renesmee went to sit down at one of the tables. Renesmee served herself bacon, ham and fried eggs. Nahuel took fruit, fried mushrooms and bread. When she saw his plate, Renesmee's eyes widened just like Nahuel had known they would.

"How can you eat so much...plant food?" she asked incredulously. "I mean, I know we don't have to drink blood like full vampires do, but I still..." she paused. "I wouldn't want to eat any of that."

Nahuel just grinned mysteriously. _I do it for you, _he thought. _Because it impresses you. _But of course, he didn't say it out loud.

It didn't take long for the Cullens to join them. Edward, Bella, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle and Esmee all wished Nahuel happy birthday with varying degrees of cheerfulness and friendliness before sitting down at the table with them. They didn't take any food. Obviously. But they did watch Nahuel and Renesmee almost warily. From the corner of his eye Nahuel saw them note when she touched his arm during conversation, when she laughed hard at his joke, when she leant her head, briefly, against his shoulder. The only person in Renesmee's family who didn't know how Nahuel felt about her was Renesmee herself. With Edward around, nothing stayed secret long. Nahuel supposed he should just be grateful Edward hadn't enlightened his daughter as to exactly the way in which he loved her.

Nahuel was never sure if the Cullens liked him or not. Sure, they had celebrated his birthday by booking the entire family into a hotel up north for a night. That had been Renesmee's idea. It had also been her who persuaded them not to overdo the luxury thing with their choice of hotel. Left to themselves, her parents would probably have chosen to _buy _a hotel rather than just buying a room in one.

But anyway, that kind of gesture made Nahuel feel...well, almost like family. And that was something he wanted more than he was willing to admit. Nahuel _had _a family already, of course, but they weren't exactly an ideal one. His mum, Pire, had apparently loved him more than words could describe, but had died bringing him into the world. His aunt Huelin had told him with a hint of accusation how much his mum had loved him and who when Nahuel was a baby he had her bitten and so turned into a vampire. His dad. Well, Nahuel hated him. And he was dead now too, in any case. Three sisters. He didn't want to think about them. Huelin had been with Nahuel almost his whole life, but when he had met Renesmee he had left her without a second thought to live with the Cullens. Huelin wasn't invited into the coven. She wasn't willing to boycott human blood. So she had gone back to South America on her own, and now that was another thing Nahuel felt guilty about because he was all that Huelin had left in this world.

When Nahuel saw the way the Cullens loved each other, and how straightforward it all was for them, he would feel as though he was a beggar outside on a snowy night looking through the window of a house with a family sitting round a warm fireplace, wishing desperately he could get in and get even a fraction of that warmth. Because even though the Cullens had been generous and kind to him, Nahuel felt that most of them didn't really like him. And he knew why that was.

"Snap!" Renesmee said, an instant before Nahuel could put his hand down on the pile of cards they were playing with. She stuck her tongue out in response to his indignant expression.

"Nessie", Bella said suddenly, "I'm not sure you should be playing this game here. You're both too fast. People might notice."

Nahuel sighed. This was one of the reasons he missed the Amazon. You weren't constantly under observation there. You weren't always having to act so...human.

"Nessie", another voice called out. Jacob Black had sauntered up to their table. He pulled out a chair and sat down by Renesmee. Her face immediately tensed. Things were...difficult between the two of them at the moment. They were having trouble navigating the imprint. Neither of them was quite sure at what age things should get more romantic.

Jacob didn't say a word about any of this to Nahuel. The two of them had never got on. Nobody had actually _told _Jacob that Nahuel wanted to move in on his imprint but he seemed to have figured it out for himself.

As far as Nahuel was concerned, Jacob being here had spoilt the morning. He couldn't stand Jacob. Just because he had imprinted on Renesmee, everyone, even her own parents, acted as though it was assumed they would end up together. It hadn't seemed to occur to anyone besides Nahuel that Renesmee was entitled to a say in this too. It hadn't seemed to occur to anyone besides Nahuel that Renesmee might not _want _Jacob.

Nahuel's eyes roamed around the room, searching for distraction from the darkness of his thoughts. He found it, but not quite in the way he'd wanted.

Two vampires had just come from the stairs and were sauntering across the hotel restaurant for all the world as if they owned it. One of them was Via Red, from earlier. The other was a guy. They seemed to be looking for something. And as Nahuel stared at them, his gaze seemed to draw Via's eyes to him. She turned her head in his direction and behind her sunglasses Nahuel was pretty sure it was him she was looking at.

They walked over to the Cullen's table.

"Carlisle", the guy said calmly, and suddenly Nahuel recognised him. He was one of the Volturi. He had been at the battle. Alec was it? Alec hadn't looked so calm back then. He had seemed furious actually.

Via slid into the seat beside Nahuel

"Wanna take a walk?" she asked.


	4. Chapter 4

Via Red was becoming increasingly confused about Nahuel, the human who she'd found with the Cullens. Partly that was because, by the standards a human, his blood didn't smell tempting at all. Another confusing thing was that he had been with the Cullens at all. That second one wasn't as surprising as the first one. Alec had told her how the Cullens liked to keep human pets. Their role was often sexual, apparently, which made Via mentally squirm a little. How could anybody find humans desirable? Ok, she had, when she was a human, but that was before she began to really see clearly. Humans were so weak. So ugly. So imperfect. And they always gawked at her like she was some kind of angel on earth, which just made her despise them even more for how pathetic they were.

It was a shame that her role for today had to be quizzing the Cullen's latest pet human, to see what insider information she could pick up.

"So", Nahuel began as they started their walk, "are you local here?"

"Not really." Via scuffed her feet along the dirt path and then leant as close as she could to the steep fall on her right, just because she knew she could keep her balance. Childish really.

"Either you are or you aren't."

She suppressed a burst of rage. Who was this human to correct her? Maybe she should eat him after all...She stopped when she heard a noise to her left, like a vampire moving through shrubbery. Was Alec following her? Had he come to watch how she did? At the thought of Alec, Via smiled, and Nahuel, dumb human that he was, smiled back thinking she was smiling at him. Human smiles always made their faces look fat. Not that Nahuel was bad looking. Not for a human, anyway. He didn't have half so many imperfections in his face as most of them did.

"What?" Nahuel asked, laughing at her smile. But there was some kind of tension beneath the laugh, almost like he was afraid.

"Just...just everything." Via smiled some more. "How do you know the Cullens?"

"I-" Nahuel stammered, seemingly taken aback by the abrupt change in topic.

"Are you actually with them? Did you travel here with them and everything?"

"Yeah..."

"Tell me about them", she ordered in a low voice.

Before Nahuel could reply, there was an ear splitting bang and through the corner of Via's eye she saw an object hurtling towards them.

She was down on the ground, one hand pressed to her face to stop the sunglasses falling off and revealing her red eyes, before she'd even properly registered what was happening, but the odd thing was that Nahuel was down on the ground only a second later, still long before the bullet went whistling over their heads.

For a moment there was a shocked silence. Then Nahuel swore and covered his face with his hands. And Via's momentary impression of him as...well, as like her...was gone. He was just another weak human. Practically in tears.

She actually knew how he felt. It wasn't even like the bullet would have killed her if it had hit her, but it would have hurt a lot and somehow she couldn't shake the sense of terror, of being brushed by a catastrophe that almost happened. It was an odd feeling.

Nahuel jumped to his feet – and he did actually jump, there weren't many humans that could get up that fast Via noted. Then he smiled shakily at her.

"I know you're a vampire, you realise."

Shock rolled through her. How...how did he know? O.k., he hung out with the Cullens but she'd - assumed...assumed he didn't know about them, or at least didn't know the full truth. If he did, the Volturi were supposed to kill him.

Via had leapt for Nahuel before she even knew what she was doing.

"Stop!" a voice commanded and she froze, just because the voice seemed to hold so much authority. Two figures sprung through the air and landed between them, much faster than the bullet from a moment ago. Via recognised them instantly. Cullens. The guy was a big, bearlike hulk and the girl was an icy looking blonde, her beauty incredible even by the standards of vampires. Had it been them Via had heard moving through the shrubbery and not Alec after all? She felt a little stab of disappointment.

She took it out on the Cullens. She glared sullenly at both of them. They glared back, and they glared at Nahuel too, which surprised her.

"You're insane", the girl told him coldly. "You shouldn't have agreed to take a walk with her. I'm surprised she didn't try to eat you earlier."

Via didn't say a word. She didn't protest that she hadn't been trying to _eat _their little pet human. She didn't even really know what she had been about to do. But whatever it was, she wouldn't talk about it to the Cullens. She wouldn't try and reason with vampires so weak they took on human pets.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nahuel's shock at what the girl – Rosalie? – had said. He obviously hadn't thought she'd been about to eat him either. And now he did. He backed away from Via, putting as much space as he could between them.

_Won't do you any good, kid, _Via thought to herself. _I could cover that ground in less than a second, if I wanted to._

"We're leaving", the boy Cullen said to Via. "We're going back to the hotel. Don't follow us."

So now they were kicking her out of the hotel as well? Rage swarmed inside Via.

She turned away from them, perching on a rock in the hope that being lower down would protect her from more bullets. She was more upset, more indignant, than this whole situation actually warranted.

What did she care if the Cullens thought she was trying to eat their pet? If their pet thought it too? They were all nothing to her. Less than nothing.

She didn't know how long passed before Alec found her. He said her name softly, and Via turned around and buried her face in his chest. She'd never done that before, but right now even the fact that he wasn't protesting and didn't seem to mind barely registered with her.

"What is it?" he asked, and she wondered how to answer that question when she wasn't sure of the answer herself.

"Some humans almost shot me when I was walking through the forest", she said. "I want to find them and I want to kill them." She tipped her neck back finally to look at Alec and as ever, his beauty took her breath away.

"Of course." Alec gave his slow, cruel smile. "It's a service to the community really, if they're being so careless. I never understand why humans so enjoy killing unfortunate animals with those unnatural weapons of theirs. What's the fun of killing with a weapon?"

A distant memory brushed at Via's mind, from the time when she was weak and not a vampire yet, of a gun being pointed at her. She brushed it away.

"Guns shouldn't be allowed", she agreed fervently.

"Did you find out much from the Cullens pet human?"

Via hesitated.

"Not really", she admitted.

Alec nodded and didn't say anymore. Via had never met another guy as sensitive as Alec was. She pressed her face even harder against his chest.

"We'll have to make it look like murder when we kill those poachers", he said matter- of -factly. "Do you want me to numb them first?"

"I want them to feel everything."

He gave her a quick squeeze, then sprang away, suddenly a distant figure racing through the trees. Via leapt after him, determined not to seem slow. Hunting with Alec was indescribable. It was so beautiful, so natural...Via smiled at Alec and Alec smiled back and some of her earlier frustration and unhappiness seemed to drain away from her body.

Some. But not all of it.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as they got back home, Renesmee went straight to her computer. Stomach churning with shame as she did it, she pulled up the dating advice websites that she'd spent most of the last few months on and began to browse them for new material.

_How To Tell If He Likes You._

_Reading A Guy's Body Language._

_Is He Cheating?_

Nothing. Nothing useful, as per usual. The problem was, websites that advised you on dealing with boys didn't tend to have any specific pages on why a guy who had _imprinted _on you and was supposed to love you _forever _was now ignoring you.

Sometimes, Renesmee really really hated that for her just about everything was different. As a kid she remembered her family telling her how special and unique she was and the way it made her sort of glow somewhere inside, and feel very lucky and privileged. She remembered how Jacob Black used to spend whole days with her, just playing with her and watching her, always with so much love in his eyes it made her feel she really must be as special as everyone said. She remembered meeting other children in the park sometimes and feeling sorry for them because their lives didn't have the magic hers did.

And now? Everything had changed. Renesmee's family didn't seem as magical to her as they used to. They were too perfect; they did everything for her. She wanted to be able to struggle for herself sometimes. She wanted to have to save up for things she really liked. She wanted to need to get a job. She wanted to deal with the world for herself once in a while, instead of her family doing it for.

Jacob Black didn't look at her with love in his eyes anymore. He looked down at the ground, always, when he saw her, and bit his lip as if he didn't know what to do or say. Half the time he seemed to avoid her. And to Renesmee it made no sense.

She didn't feel sorry for other children anymore either. They all had exciting, independent lives separate from their parents. They went to high school and learnt things and made friends with each other. Renesmee, because she couldn't let anyone know about her accelerated aging, stayed home and learnt things from her family and they all said how talented she was. But she didn't feel talented. Next to them she was useless. Next to them she was weak, clumsy, stupid, and ugly. Vampires did everything better. And she didn't make friends. She didn't talk to humans. Nahuel was the only friend _she_ had. Renesmee was lonely. She would have loved a female friend she could confide her boy troubles to. That was what girls always did in the romance novels Renesmee occasionally read; they comforted each other about boys and got each other through the hard times. But Renesmee was completely alone. Like a useless precious doll, she lived in the cage her family provided her with and didn't waste time moving or doing anything at all contrary to their expectations.

What she really hated was how angry she felt. None of this was her family's fault, or even Jacob's fault. It was just the circumstances. It was just her 'specialness' that was making her life Hell.

According to Nahuel she would stop aging at about twenty. Maybe then things would get better. It might be easier for her to appear in public anyway.

Renesmee switched off the computer and decided to go for a walk. But just as she was about to leave the door, Rosalie spotted her.

"Where are you going, Nessie?" she asked anxiously. Rosalie's protectiveness could sometimes get a bit smothering.

"Out."

"Jacob! Will you go with her?"

"Uh, sure." Jacob appeared looking ruffled, as if he'd been running. Renesmee wondered whether to be happy about this situation or dismayed. "Hey Nessie." He handed her a coat and they stepped outside. "How's life?"

"It's o.k." she lied. A part of her longed to show him her thoughts by pressing their foreheads together. But a greater part didn't want him to know the way he was making her feel right now. "What about you?"

"Fantastic." It came out bitingly sarcastic.

"Oh." Renesmee began to walk faster. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, really. It's just life, you know."

For a while the two of them were silent. Renesmee desperately tried to think of something to talk about. It wasn't like she could tell Jacob anything about herself. He knew it all already. It wasn't like they could discuss the changes in the lives of others. The people they knew's lives never changed. She wondered about starting a conversation about politics, or philosophy, but suspected Jacob wouldn't be interested.

It was as she was trying to think of something else that Jacob's strong arms suddenly drew her to him. For a moment he stared down into her eyes and Renesmee couldn't seem to breathe. His gorgeous face was all that swam in her vision, and it seemed to move closer. Renesmee gasped and closed her eyes. Was this the moment she'd been waiting for? Was he finally going to kiss her?

Instead, though, Jacob released her and carried on walking. And as Renesmee stumbled after him, she wondered what it was she'd done so wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

The only noise Via could hear was the sound of her own feet.

Usually, she moved too lightly to be heard, even with her enhanced vampire hearing.

But in this huge chamber, where the floors were some kind of cold stone and the walls were made from a material that caused echoes to bound and multiply across the room, and nobody was either moving or breathing, Via's footfalls sounded like cannonfire to her own ears.

For a moment, she actually wished she was still a weak human. A human Via would have been able to shake and tremble. She'd never thought about it much before she was a vampire, but shaking and trembling helped you deal with fear. Without them she always seemed much more afraid. She wished she was human.

Of course, if she was human right now Via would have a lot more _reason _to tremble than she in fact did have. Because the room she was in belonged to the Volturi. It was one of several chambers they used to speak with vampires who weren't coven members.

And to decide whether said vampires should _become _coven members.

Via had hoped the entire Volturi clan would be here, but she supposed it didn't really matter. If she became a member they'd all have centuries to get to know each other. Via's presence hadn't even been enough to summon all three leaders, apparently. Marcus, who supposedly spent most of his life in a depressed haze since the death of his mate Didyme, was still in his bedroom. Alec wasn't there either, though he would have gone a long way to calming her. It was difficult to be frightened when those steady kind eyes were on her and warming her.

Nope, the three vampires Via faced right now were the leaders Aro and Caius and a female vampire whose face was hidden behind her long light brown hair. Via got the impression the hiding of the vampire's face was deliberate.

"Via", Aro greeted her, and even the sound of her own name on the Volturi leader's lips sent a tingle of anticipation running down her spine. Surely the fact he had learned it in advance had to be a promising sign? When Via looked at Aro she was afraid. But not just for the obvious reasons – he was powerful and he held her fate in his cold hands – but because of his power. If Aro was considering accepting her into the coven, he might want to read her mind. And if he read her mind he'd know her secret, that one deadly secret she had never told to anybody, and he'd realise how weak she really was.

She was a fool to even be here. Via knew that. But when Alec had found her and said Aro had read his mind and knew all about her and was interested in talking to her, she just hadn't been able to resist. It was the belonging, she supposed, that was so enticing to her. Somewhere deep down, even though she knew it was weak, Via longed to belong. And obviously also the fact that being in the Volturi would take her one step closer to being Alec's mate.

"I believe that you met our Alec when he was investigating the Lisedale coven?" Aro asked.

Unable to speak, Via nodded her head.

"She provided vital information to Alec on their activities", Caius told Aro. Aro, who clearly already knew this, shot him an irritated look.

"Friends of yours, the vampires at Lisedale?" he asked her.

"Not any more", she answered ruefully.

"Practical, I see. And your ability is that you can change your appearance?"

"Artificially. It doesn't actually change but I can trick people into thinking I look different to how I actually do."

"An interesting gift", Caius murmured when Aro was silent. "Could you show us?"

Via closed her eyes and pictured her nose being longer. She thought, over and over again, of having a longer nose. She traced the end of her real nose with a finger. Then, with the same finger she touched the space she wanted her nose to extend to. When she raised her lids again her nose resembled a cartoon villain's and she smiled, happy to see it had worked out so well. But the three Volturi all still had unreadable expressions.

"Come here girl", Aro said, extending his hand. And her stomach lurched because now, she realised, now he was going to read her mind. Reluctantly she stepped forward. Reluctantly she let him touch her hand. She felt nothing as her thoughts hit Aro in a rush. It was as if they had detached themselves from her. How odd. When Aro released her he was smiling.

"Welcome to the Volturi guard, Via", he said. "I am afraid you'll have only a day to get to know us. Caius has been pressurising me to deal with the children of the moon for a while now and we have news some of them have left northern Europe and Asia and travelled to the Seattle area in North America. We're not aware of why that might be yet. Your gift, however, may be just the thing for fighting them. Tomorrow I want you to fly to America, find these werewolves and convince them you're a friend. Then we will see."

Via just stared at Aro. He was letting her in? After he'd seen her thoughts and knew how weak she was? And now she had a mission as well? She was utterly overwhelmed.

"Chelsea", Aro murmured, and the brown haired girl fixed her eyes on Via. As she did, Via's warm feelings of gratitude to the Volturi seemed to increase until she suddenly knew she'd do anything for them. Anything, anything. Just so long as she was of service.


End file.
